Head Of Projects

Job description

We are looking for a Head of Project Management to lead projects both locally and abroad. This is a player-coach position: you will own the standards, processes, and development of the projects team, while also carrying your own portfolio of client projects. This is not a purely supervisory role. We expect the head of projects to be active in delivery - running projects, managing clients, and leading from the front. At the same time, you will be accountable for the health of the project management function as a whole: how the team operates, how projects are tracked, and how consistently we deliver across the board. You will report directly to the development director and work closely with the wider leadership team. The project management team currently comprises four project managers, and you will be responsible for their performance, development, and day-to-day direction. The right person for this role has grown through delivery, knows what good project management looks like in practice, and is ready to take ownership of a team without stepping away from the work they are good at.

Key responsibilities: Own the overall performance + delivery of projects across the business. Delivery standards across the function are your key accountability.

• Define, document, and continuously improve the processes, templates, and tooling the PM team uses.
• Conduct regular one-on-ones with PMs, provide direct and constructive feedback, and actively support their development.
• Work with the business directors to manage team capacity, flag resourcing risk, and ensure projects are appropriately staffed.
• Contribute to hiring decisions when PM capacity needs to expand.
• Serve as the escalation point for project issues that PMs are unable to resolve independently.

Manage your own portfolio of client projects end-to-end, from discovery through to go-live.

• Develop and maintain detailed project plans, resource schedules, and milestone trackers for projects you own.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for senior client stakeholders on your projects.
• Run discovery sessions, requirements workshops, and regular project status calls with confidence.
• Identify risks and scope creep early, and take proactive steps to mitigate them before they affect delivery.
• Coordinate developers, QA, designers, and third-party integrators to keep delivery on track.

Manage senior client relationships honestly and professionally — including difficult conversations around budget, scope, and timeline.

• Produce clear, concise project documentation: briefs, status reports, change requests, and handover notes.
• Ensure clients are kept informed without being overwhelmed, and that expectations are set and managed proactively.

Commercial oversight

• Have oversight on all projects across the business
• Ensure projects are properly scoped, priced, and approved before work begins.
• Contribute to scoping and costing for new business proposals alongside the technical and business development teams.
• Support revenue forecasting within the development team where required.

Required:

• Minimum 7 years of project management experience in a digital agency or software development environment.
• Proven track record delivering complex e-commerce or web development projects end-to-end.
• Prior experience managing or mentoring a team.
• Strong working knowledge of both agile and waterfall delivery methodologies.
• Comfortable working directly with developers and translating technical constraints for non-technical stakeholders.
• Excellent written and verbal communication - able to produce clear documentation and present confidently to senior clients.
• Demonstrable commercial awareness: budget tracking, burn management, change control, and scoping.
• Experience with project management tooling such as Asana, Jira, Monday.com, or similar.

Advantageous

• Hands-on experience with Shopify, Shopify Plus, WooCommerce, or Magento.
• Familiarity with software development concepts such as APIs, third-party integrations, staging environments, and version control — enough to have an informed conversation with a developer.
• PMP, PRINCE2, or scrum master certification (or equivalent).
• Experience scoping and delivering enterprise-level platform migrations or system integrations.

Posted on 24 Mar 19:00, Closing date 23 May